Dr. Toldson discussed opportunities for HBCUs to compete for grants and contract from the federal government with the PVAMU President, Executive Officers and Deans, highlighting:
- The First in The World grant competition, which provide grants to institutions of higher education to spur the development of innovations that improve educational outcomes and make college more affordable for students and families, and to develop an evidence base of effective practices.
- The NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative, one of three new Common Fund initiatives that together aim to enhance diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences research workforce.
Dr. Toldson also discussed the proposed college rating system and other plans for President Obama’s administration to recognize institutions that advance college completion among low income students.
With students, Dr. Toldson discussed the importance of Black History by sharing lessons of Black struggle and triumph, and connecting them with recent quests among Black people to fight for justice amid the murders of unarmed Black males. Dr. Toldson encouraged the students to fight against any attempt to mischaracterize Black people, especially through negative statistics.
Dr. Toldson debunked common myths Black people, and demonstrated how what might appear to be a clear stat, could be false and used to mischaracterize who we are. He concluded by charging the students to embrace Black history, not to be duped by false negative statistics and work to make sure young Black children understand the truth about themselves.
